New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed surprise after being mentioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in late September. In a conversation with podcaster Theo Von, Mamdani described the situation as ‘strange’ and noted that he was attending a meeting with the prime minister of the Netherlands at the LGBTQ center in Manhattan when the news surfaced.

Netanyahu’s remarks included a direct criticism of Mamdani, accusing him of spreading false information about Israel and attempting to limit his speech in New York. ‘Shame on you for distorting the facts,’ Netanyahu said, addressing those he felt were misrepresenting Israel’s actions.

During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani advocated for the arrest of Netanyahu, calling on the U.S. to honor an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against the Israeli leader. The warrant, issued in November 2024, alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, claims that Netanyahu and the Israeli government dismissed.

Theo Von questioned Mamdani if he would have pursued the arrest of Netanyahu. Mamdani replied that he would have liked the U.S. to join the ICC and respect its warrants. He attributed Netanyahu’s mention of him by name to an effort to deflect from more serious issues, describing Netanyahu as the ‘architect of a genocide.’

World leaders gathered at the U.N. for discussions on global challenges such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the implications of artificial intelligence. The episode between Mamdani and Netanyahu unfolded against this backdrop.